Olympics fuels new UK sports channel

A new TV channel will broadcast niche sports that featured in the 2012 Olympic Games when it launches later this year.

Legacy London, a 24-hour channel, will begin airing on BSkyB’s pay TV platform in November and is looking for wider distribution. Produced by Highflyer, the production company behind commercial broadcaster Channel 4’s horse racing coverage, the channel will deliver coverage of 24 sports including athletics, judo, gymnastics, fencing and wrestling.

John Fairley, chairman of Highflyer, said “The amount of athletics on the main channels has been very small, especially when you think of all the disciplines within the athletics, but the Games has changed all that.”